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Green Party: Government failure to get a grip on gig economy hurts everyone

14 February 2017

The Green Party has responded to news this morning that the gig-economy is thought to cost the Government £4billion in lost taxes. [1]

Jonathan Bartley, Green Party co-leader, said:

“The news that insecure work is hurting public finances reinforces what we already knew – insecure work is bad for everyone.

“The gig-economy offers flexibility but in reality leaves workers without basic rights and vulnerable to exploitation. Add to this the lost tax revenue which could be supporting greater social security or the NHS, and it’s clear that the Government has been left standing by a rapidly changing world. It needs to get a grip on the gig-economy.”

The news comes just days after pressure from the Green Party saw the Government finally publish (on February 10) a report into employment status law which was completed more than a year ago. [2]

Bartley added:

“The extent of the Government’s apathy and inertia was revealed last week when it finally published the Coalition’s shelved review into employment status law, which warned back in 2015 that gig-economy workers were at risk.

“While Tory ministers shamefully sat on the findings of the report workers everywhere have been living with increasing insecurity. People need jobs they can build a life on, and they need them now.”

Notes:

  1. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/14/insecure-work-bad-uk-economy-tuc-zero-hours-contracts
  2. https://www.greenparty.org.uk/news/2017/02/10/green-pressure-sees-government-finally-publish-shelved-employment-status-law-review/

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Green Party • • •

UK inflation falls in January compared to December. Core inflation holds steady.

The CPI index fell 0.5% in January compared to December. Food prices also fell 0.5% over the same time period, despite the bad weather effects on vegetables.

Core inflation  over the last twelve months stayed at the same level as in  December, at 1.6%.

Overall the CPI  rose  by 1.8% over the last twelve months. This was a higher annual rate than December owing to the fall out of a very good month a year ago. The main factor, accounting for half the annual increase came from higher oil prices affecting transport. The UK inflation rate is mirroring the German and US rates, affected by the same world oil price rise. The other most buoyant item was the increase over the last year in restaurant and hotel bills, reflecting higher wages.

January’s figures were helped by falls in clothing and footwear prices, and by the intense supermarket competition which kept food prices down.

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John Redwood MP • • •

It is now clear that the Government is unwilling to commit the necessary resources to our nation’s defences – Griffith

Nia Griffith MP, Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary, responding to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance report, said:

“This report exposes the Government’s complete and shocking failure to maintain its commitment on defence spending to our Armed Forces and to the country.

“Just weeks after the Prime Minister was lecturing our allies about increasing spending to meet the 2 percent NATO commitment, it is now clear that her Government is unwilling to commit the necessary resources to our nation’s defences.

“As the Defence Select Committee has shown, the MoD was already barely scrapping over the 2 percent mark and had changed its accounting methods to give the illusion of keeping the commitment. To be spending less than 2 percent of GDP on defence is utterly unacceptable, particularly in this time of immense global uncertainty.

“Labour is committed to spending at least 2 percent of our GDP on defence spending, as we consistently did when in government.”

ENDS

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Labour • • •